If it's meant to be, it's up to me
Nashville, TN
Joined January 2019
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Robert Gowan retweeted
Thank you to TN Sen. Bo Watson and Rep. Esther Helton-Haynes for joining us yesterday for a meaningful visit and thoughtful discussion at the Erlanger ALS Clinic in Chattanooga. A big thank you as well to the families who shared their experiences, the clinicians and amazing ALS clinic staff, and the whole Erlanger team for making it a day to remember!
@SenBoWatson
@erlangerhealth
@estherhelton5
Robert Gowan retweeted
☣️U.S. State Dept should press Russia on veracity of local reports👇that 10 people had already died of plague by the time the story broke on Oct 2. Could explain why FSB enforced quarantine on ~200 residents.
🚨SCOOP by @AFP who spoke w/local residents.
Robert Gowan retweeted
Mike Ditka was scheduled to sing the seventh inning stretch on July 5th, 1998. This was the year that Harry Caray died and the “guest conductor” was new at Wrigley Field. Ditka got stuck in traffic and was running late. By the time the top of the seventh ended, Ditka was still not there and Steve Stone and Chip Caray stalled for time. Finally Ditka busts into the press box, grabs the mic, and screams Take Me Out To The Ball Game in twenty two seconds! Organist Gary Pressy could barely keep up! The crowd roared with approval! R.I.P. Mike Ditka
Robert Gowan retweeted
The first Captain D's was founded in 1969 as Mr. D's Seafood and Hamburgers on Lebanon Pike.
Robert Gowan retweeted
Important👇
In the 1990s I worked with Ken Alibek, the former No. 2 in the Soviet biological weapons program, after he defected to the US.
He claimed that they had engineered a strain of plague that was antibiotic-resistant & that they had worked on plague chimeras (fusing 2 or more pathogens).
He specifically called out Irkutsk for being involved in the BW program.
This outbreak is deeply worrisome. This may not be just “the plague.” It may be far worse.
If you haven’t read Annie Jacobsen’s new book, “Biological War: a Scenario”, now might be a good time.
nytimes.com/2026/10/05/world…
nytimes.com/2026/07/27/books…
Robert Gowan retweeted
Russia's five-hospital quarantine, FSB involvement, and reported hazmat use in response to the death of a single researcher at a weapons-lineage Irkutsk lab are inconsistent with a lab-acquired plague infection, which would have been treated with prophylactic antibiotics.
1/4
Robert Gowan retweeted
In the 1990s I worked with Ken Alibek, the former No. 2 in the Soviet biological weapons program, after he defected to the US.
He claimed that they had engineered a strain of plague that was antibiotic-resistant & that they had worked on plague chimeras (fusing 2 or more pathogens).
He specifically called out Irkutsk for being involved in the BW program.
This outbreak is deeply worrisome. This may not be just “the plague.” It may be far worse.
Robert Gowan retweeted
So far it’s following the trajectory described above n the book ‘Biological War’: books.apple.com/us/book/biol… which is terrifying and riveting at the same time. Highly recommend.
Robert Gowan retweeted
Question: On the Siberia outbreak, should the US govt have any confidence in cooperation or accurate information sharing by Russia?
@AnnieJacobsen: “Quite the opposite…they're going to give us zero accurate information. They are not going to be transparent. And that has to do with the fact that biological weapons are illegal.“
If you haven’t read Annie Jacobsen's "Biological War: A Scenario" you might want to download it on Kindle real quick. It's a great book, well researched, and not the kind you want to read right before bed.
And I’m up tonight reading everything I can find about the news out of Siberia.
A young lab technician at a plague research institute in Irkutsk died Oct. 2. Some local outlets say it was pneumonic plague. Russia's health agency says pneumonia, cause unknown. The WHO has offered to help.
aljazeera.com/news/2026/10/5…
About 200 people are under observation, and several hospitals in the region have restricted access. Our State Department says it's monitoring with the CDC. That's about what you'd expect for a suspected case.
cnn.com/2026/10/04/europe/ru…
Worth keeping in mind: plague is treatable with antibiotics if it's caught early, and so far nothing shows it has spread beyond that area. Meduza has a good explainer on why this isn't the Black Death.
meduza.io/en/feature/2026/10…
Still, Jacobsen's book opens with an outbreak in Siberia, and I wasn't the only one who noticed the similarities. The Telegraph made the same connection. Its point, and Jacobsen’s, is that being open early is what matters most.
telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/10…
I hope this turns out to be one sad, contained case. If the subject interests you, the book is worth your time, in print or audio.
nytimes.com/2026/07/27/books…
The WHO has offered to help.
aljazeera.com/news/2026/10/5…
About 200 people are under observation, and several hospitals in the region have restricted access. Our State Department says it's monitoring with the CDC. That's about what you'd expect for a suspected case.
cnn.com/2026/10/04/europe/ru…
Worth keeping in mind: plague is treatable with antibiotics if it's caught early, and so far nothing shows it has spread beyond that area. Meduza has a good explainer on why this isn't the Black Death.
meduza.io/en/feature/2026/10…
Still, Jacobsen's book opens with an outbreak in Siberia, and I wasn't the only one who noticed the similarities. The Telegraph made the same connection. Its point, and Jacobsen’s, is that being open early is what matters most.
telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/10…
I hope this turns out to be one sad, contained case. If the subject interests you, the book is worth your time, in print or audio.
nytimes.com/2026/07/27/books…
Robert Gowan retweeted
Track the Pneumonic Plague: plague.somethingbig.ai
Robert Gowan retweeted
🚨SCOOP: Principals meeting at the White House this morning to discuss the pneumonic plague accident at the BSL-3 lab in Siberia, Russia.
Robert Gowan retweeted
☣️💥A lab accident, a highly contagious genetically modified pathogen, a global pandemic, the collapse of human society...
"Terrifying." — The New Yorker
“Terrifying.” — The Economist
“Perversely thrilling.” — The Observer
“Nightmare fuel.” —Amazon Editors
"This book moves like a meteor." — The New York Times
"Vividly gruesome." — Christianity Today
"A disturbing summons to seriousness.” — Washington Post
“Even more ghastly and perversely thrilling than the last.” — The Observer
“A page-turning thriller." — Semafor
“Biological warfare could trigger a global catastrophe.” — USA Today
“Policymakers ought to heed the warnings in this book.” — The Economist
“Biological War: A Scenario...is the briefing we should have received...in Downing Street six years ago – and that is not just a compliment to Jacobsen but more an indictment of us." —James Phillips, special adviser to the UK Prime Minister during the Covid pandemic, writing in The Spectator Magazine.
shorturl.at/k7Otp
Brooke Eby, Who Brought Humor and Awareness to A.L.S., Dies at 37 nytimes.com/2026/10/02/obitu… via @NYTimes
Robert Gowan retweeted
Derrick Henry on Titans: “They shipped me out … They were ready to move on.”
Like I’ve always said, there’s no evidence the Titans even entertained extending Henry’s contract before it ended.
And now you hear it from The King himself.
An epic failure by an organization to lose its greatest player in franchise history while he was still producing.
Derrick Henry confirmed the Titans didn't try to retain him before he joined the Ravens, via @jamisonhensley:
"It was bittersweet ... Good things don't last forever so it was time for me to find a new home."
